Effects of intraoperative dexmedetomidine on the incidence of acute kidney injury in pediatric cardiac surgery patients: A randomized controlled trial

Background Perioperative dexmedetomidine use has been reported to reduce the incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury after adult cardiac surgery. However, large‐scale randomized controlled trials evaluating the effect of dexmedetomidine use on acute kidney injury in pediatric patients are lacking. Aims We investigated whether intraoperative dexmedetomidine could reduce the incidence of acute kidney injury in pediatric cardiac surgery patients. Methods In total, 141 pediatric patients were randomly assigned to dexmedetomidine or control groups. After anesthetic induction, patients in the dexmedetomidine group were administered 1 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine over 10 minutes and an additional 0.5 µg/kg/h of dexmedetomidine during surgery. Additionally, 1 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine was infused immediately after cardiopulmonary bypass was initiated. The incidence of acute kidney injury was defined following Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes guidelines. Results The final analysis included 139 patients. The incidence of acute kidney injury did not differ between dexmedetomidine and control groups (16.9% vs 23.5%; odds ratio 0.661; 95% CI 0.285 to 1.525; P = .33). Similarly, neither the incidence of abnormal postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate values (P = .96) nor the incidence of arrhythmia, mechanical ventilation duration, length of stay in the intensive care unit, and hospitalization differed between the two groups. Conclusions Intraoperative dexmedetomidine did not reduce acute kidney injury incidence in pediatric cardiac surgery patients.